Calling themselves "Fevermooon," FVRMN is led by J Holmes and Suicides is the second album in as many years. In a broad summary, I thought Back To The Whip was like a drawn out Leatherface or Jawbreaker record. Similar gruff vocals, personal lyrics, but paced with slower tempos and longer songs. Jumping to the present, Suicides has captured the tone a little better. The heart-on-sleeve vocals set the stage, but the guitars lead. You get more '90s rock, Dinosaur Jr. comes to mind, but it's not so overt.
"French Uhuru" is a great example of that '90s influence. It's still that heart-on-sleeve punk vibe but with a groove behind it that's much more about the rhythm guitar. (Plus it namedrops Jesus Jones.) "Razorblade" is on the punkier side, "Parasitic Sympathy II" and the title track blend the punk tones with more fuzzy guitar and soft melodies. They even sneak in a ballad, "Too Innocent," which fits the tone in a great job of sequencing. "Suicides" is a good choice for a title track, albeit a downer of a word choice, as the song really captures the mood of the album: soft melodies, big guitar, and driving drums.
The lyrics can be a little distracting at times, but for the most part the melodies keep everything moving along when some of the more esoteric word choices make you pause. In other words, this is a deeply personal record from Holmes (inspired after experiencing seizures), but sometimes the metaphors are a bit hard to decipher as a total stranger. Ultimately, that doesn't matter when the music flows the way it does.
